American Widows Project

I just watched an amazing and heart warming piece on the today show. It was about a non for profit group called the American Widows Project. This inspiring woman created an organization for the younger generation of women who have become widows whose average age in the group is 25. Taryn Davis traveled the country interviewing other military widows documentary and created a documentary called the “The American Widow Project.” Four months after her husband’s death, she started a nonprofit with the same name as the documentary. So far, this group has connected nearly 800 military widows through its website. The website offers an online forum offering support and their Facebook page has some unique features. The American Widows Projects’ Facebook page holds “Memory Mondays” where group members can share their favorite memories of their husbands and also “Widow Wednesdays” where a new member’s story is posted. I love when someone uses Social Media to give people a platform to express themselves or in this case their grief. The other thing that is group does is hold events for the widows to gt together and enjoy activities. The events section of their website says this “The widows come together to enjoy life the way they did when their spouse was still alive. From surfing to ziplining, we are here to enjoy each other’s company and share some of our fondest memories.”

This is the Mission Statement of the American Widows Project as stated on their website: Since 2001, nearly 6,000 U.S. service members have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Around half of these service members were married, leaving an estimated 3,000 military widows across our country. While the service member’s sacrifice is acknowledged, many simply forget or fail to recognize the sacrifice of the spouse who is now left a widow of war. Oftentimes the invisible wounds of military widows are disregarded due to age or a simple lack of knowledge and understanding. Follow http://www.americanwidowproject.org/ and Donate but also spread the word about organizations that are helping people such as this one!

For an ongoing series on TODAY, they are asking Americans to step up their support for service members and military families. Here are some resources to help you find ways to show your support. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30867248/